1.9.19 obituaries

He was born on May 9, 1930, to the late Henry Lee Smith and Maggie Walker-Smith in Jesup. He was educated in Wayne County Training School and graduated in the class of 1949. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1951 and remained until 1953, serving his country during the Korean War. After returning home, he became involved in his community serving Brothers Taking Action Civic Organization and also in American Legion Post No. 529 in Wayne County. He not only was a member of Bennett Union Missionary Baptist Church, but he also served proudly as one of the deacons and on the Usher Board.

On April 13, 1954, he was united in holy matrimony to his beloved wife of 59 years, Martha Rawls-Smith, and to this union two beautiful girls were born, Sonja and Dianne.

He was preceded in death by both parents, Henry Lee and Maggie Walker-Smith; his loving wife, Martha Rawls-Smith; and his siblings, Franklin Smith and Bertha Jefferson.

Survivors include his children, Gwendolyn (Kenneth) McClendon of Blackshear, Sonja (Moses) Maylor of Orlando, Florida, and Dianne (Tony) Luke of Tampa, Florida; six grandchildren, Taara, Aalia, Jahaan, Moses II, T.J. (Abigail) and Dionne; three great-grandchildren, Malachi, Monroe and Marcus; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and friends.

A wake/visitation will be held on Friday from 5 p.m.to 7 p.m. at Bennett Union Missionary Baptist Church, 401 W. Pine Street.

Funeral services will be held Saturday at Bennett Union Missionary Baptist Church at 11 a.m. Interment is in Jesup City Cemetery with military rites.

He will be lovingly remembered by his four children, Jason, Patrick, Kathryn and Brooke, and their spouses, as well as by his nine grandchildren, who affectionately knew him as “Poppa”.

He was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, on May 11, 1943. He graduated from Clemson University in 1965 and the Medical University of South Carolina in 1969. He continued his medical training through the U.S. Navy and Medical College of Georgia. Throughout his career, he lived in California, Taiwan, South Carolina and Georgia, ultimately establishing his urology practice in Jesup where he retired in 1998.

Following retirement, he volunteered to provide medical care to areas of need throughout the United States for several years.

He was a caring, generous person who spent his life helping others in many ways, his family said. He was a physician, teacher, coach, mentor and friend to those who knew him, and he always found ways to lend a hand and give back to people, communities and the Catholic Church wherever he lived or visited.

Throughout his retirement, he filled his time with things he most enjoyed--spending time with his children and grandchildren, fishing, traveling to Alaska and elsewhere, spending time with friends, and cheering on his beloved alma mater, the Clemson Tigers.

He was preceded in death by his grandmother, Lois Keels Williams; his parents, Carol Mathis Cunnane and Francis Joseph Cunnane Jr.; and his sister, Carol “Bootsie” Wilder.